BABA

Hmm? vanzant-->VZ. RAMOUTAR-->Rambo-->RB. NICEr! No automatic VZ, sorry. I'm not there yet. It may exist, but my primary game is "dirty and stinky" equity. I look at options and futures to see what the bets are, analyze the odds and bring them into "our mix" of indicators every day.

I don't use a calculator anymore. Had a buddy work some MSFT Excel magic. Nice spreadsheets that shove nicely into HTML. Yeah! Jai getting' some!
 
Your post piqued my interest, and now BABA is on our radar. BABA not in my stable, but will watch. Here's my take:

1) Put/Call Ratio in the $105-$111 strike zones (a/o today's close) are 3:1. The 3/24, 3/31,4/7 and 4/13 P/C ratios lean more toward strong bullish implied volatility. Overall bullish, subject to mkt. change.
2) Insider/Institutional activity (6 months, quarter before last, respectively): Nil to none, or just "plain ole" not available. Neutral
3) Earnings: Report on 5/3. Estimate is +.71 vs. .44 Q1 2016: Appears to be bullish. From a fundamental standpoint, very impressive jump!
4) Analysts: 39 of them. Price target consensus is $127.15: Bullish until the earnings are reported
5) Shorts are very high. 13.25% of the float is short. Very bearish. The shorts are either very right, or "very" wrong. Be careful, this will end up has a very hard 50/50. Quite scary, yet very attractive!

We're setting the following: E-here at ~$108, S- $107.23 T- $111.05. Nice R/R/R of 3.89:1

Just providing info. May the trend be with you Michael J. Fletcher...
I barely know anything about trading stocks, but just the fact that you have a list of things you look for like this is very impressive, much more so than the typical garbage posted on ET without any data behind it.

I do wonder what the stats are for 2 of the numbers you quote, the put/call ratios, and also the % of float that is short. Would love to see if a case could be made for these numbers having any predictive value.
 
I barely know anything about trading stocks, but just the fact that you have a list of things you look for like this is very impressive, much more so than the typical garbage posted on ET without any data behind it.

I do wonder what the stats are for 2 of the numbers you quote, the put/call ratios, and also the % of float that is short. Would love to see if a case could be made for these numbers having any predictive value.
Thank you for the compliment "Gotcha". I shared a very abbreviated checklist of what I look for on any trade. I thank Michael J. Fletcher for starting the thread on BABA. We're looking at this as long.

Now to your questions:

Put/Call Ratio: If you know about options, forgive the repetition. This is a simple calculation: divide the put volume by the call volume.

-Calls and puts are options. Options are rights to buy or sell the underlying instrument (in this case stock) at a specified price by a specific time.

-A call option is the right to "buy" the stock at a certain price, by a certain time. Generally speaking, if one buys a call, they're bullish. A put option is the right to "sell" the stock at a certain price, by a certain time. Options can be used to hedge a position. The one who purchases a put is normally bearish. Someone who's has a long position might buy a put to protect a potential profit. One may buy a call to protect themselves on a short position. However, options can be traded individually (together). Some folks trade options exclusively. There are 10 primary strategies. I trade options, primarily to hedge.

Short Interest vs. Float (nickname for shares outstanding):

- #of shares authorized - # shares issued (difference is treasury stock) - #shares held by insiders (and at times institutional ownership is included) = float (outstanding) the number of shares that are available to be traded in the open market.

- short interest. The number of shares sold short/ the number of shares outstanding (float)
here's a great video that explains it.

These are my definitions and I tried to simplify as best I could.

See you on the boards.

Happy investing and trading!
 
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Thank you for the compliment "Gotcha". I shared a very abbreviated checklist of what I look for on any trade. I thank Michael J. Fletcher for starting the thread on BABA. We're looking at this as long.

Now to your questions:

Put/Call Ratio: If you know about options, forgive the repetition. This is a simple calculation: divide the put volume by the call volume.

-Calls and puts are options. Options are rights to buy or sell the underlying instrument (in this case stock) at a specified price by a specific time.

-A call option is the right to "buy" the stock at a certain price, by a certain time. Generally speaking, if one buys a call, they're bullish. A put option is the right to "sell" the stock at a certain price, by a certain time. Options can be used to hedge a position. The one who purchases a put is normally bearish. Someone who's has a long position might buy a put to protect a potential profit. One may buy a call to protect themselves on a short position. However, options can be traded individually (together). Some folks trade options exclusively. There are 10 primary strategies. I trade options, primarily to hedge.

Short Interest vs. Float (nickname for shares outstanding):

- #of shares authorized - # shares issued (difference is treasury stock) - #shares held by insiders (and at times institutional ownership is included) = float (outstanding) the number of shares that are available to be traded in the open market.

- short interest. The number of shares sold short/ the number of shares outstanding (float)
here's a great video that explains it.

These are my definitions and I tried to simplify as best I could.

See you on the boards.

Happy investing and trading!
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I do have working knowledge of this stuff, but have never analyzed it, so I was curious if you would throw out any stats that you have come up with that you wouldn't mind sharing. I find in trading, any one stats is barely good for a 70/30 edge, maybe not even 60/40. There is after all always someone on the other side of the trade. If you can buy an option, that option seller is taking the risk.

Anyway, this isn't where my interest lies so no point in going too deep. Just wanted to say I liked that your response was based on your thoughts that are actually tangible stats and hence can be tracked going forward.
 
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I do have working knowledge of this stuff, but have never analyzed it, so I was curious if you would throw out any stats that you have come up with that you wouldn't mind sharing. I find in trading, any one stats is barely good for a 70/30 edge, maybe not even 60/40. There is after all always someone on the other side of the trade. If you can buy an option, that option seller is taking the risk.

Anyway, this isn't where my interest lies so no point in going too deep. Just wanted to say I liked that your response was based on your thoughts that are actually tangible stats and hence can be tracked going forward.

Thank you for the recognition, and appreciation. Barring the ignorant and venomous trolls, this community has many great members and contributors, (darn, even the best five star restaurants have cockroaches and rats) and I appreciate exchange ideas and information with the members who bring value here.

I've shared my trades here in the past, many years ago, and I'll go back to sharing more. I look forward to your sharing as well.

Be well Gotcha!
 
$BABA stopped us out this week but by Friday close weekly candle did what it had to do. Keep on list.
original_78401945.
 
Anybody have plans to "latch" on $BABA. No immediate intent here. Lips and teeth are tight on this one (for now). "What say you?" Anyone...
 
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